Mumblings in the Early Morn
by Dragon'sHost
Summary: It's another late night at Fairy Tail. But not everyone is quite asleep just yet, and maybe it's time Erza moved on from waiting for Jellal.


**This was done as part of a prompt challenge on Tumblr – though this particular one was issued by Gemnika. I've been wanting to do this pairing for a while, and I was so excited to get the chance to. Thanks for listening to my begging, Gem!**

 **Prompt: "Things you said at 1 AM."**

 **Pairing Requested: Midnight x Erza**

 **This does contain some minor CoLu, though. And a mention of MinMax.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

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Once she had finally caught Natsu and Gray and had finished properly punishing them for destroying her cake, Erza glanced around the guild. The party had died down at some point without her noticing. As usual, the destruction was immense. The guild members lay sprawled all around and within the chaos. Some of them were knocked unconscious, others drunk, while a scattered few were simply sleeping – perfectly at home and comfortable amongst the maelstrom of debris and people.

Erza restrained a smile when she observed two of those devil-may-care individuals. Lucy was asleep at one of the tables, her head pillowed in her arms. Beside her slept Cobra, the man displaying a rare moment of public affection with one of his arms draped across the slumbering blonde's shoulders.

This had been a couple not even Mirajane had seen coming. It had sent the demon-woman into a downward shipping spiral the likes of which the guild had never been witnessed – leading her to rearrange all her ships because if she had missed this one what else had she overlooked? Much to the amusement of the onlookers and the subsequent horror of the people suddenly being shipped with someone whom they had nothing in common with – though Mirajane appeared to have struck gold with Minerva and Max.

The scarlet haired Titania thought that Lucy and Cobra made an adorable picture, as they were now. Erza wished the best for Lucy – and if the blonde thought that Cobra was the best for her, then so be it. If Cobra put one toe out of line however… then Erza would definitely have to… _correct_ the situation. But until then, she was content to be happy for her friend.

Though she feared the pair would awaken with horrible cricks in their necks.

Speaking of pairs… Erza looked at the two unconscious youths still within her grasp. What was she going to do with them?

A giggle resounded behind her, as her long-time rival swept past with Broom. Although what Mirajane hoped to accomplish with Broom alone against the vast devastation that was the guildhall, Erza could not even begin to guess at. She'd learned to stop questioning the woman a long time ago. Mirajane let out another giggle as she spotted the boys, firmly in Erza's grip. "I think one of the couches still has some free room if you want to put them there?"

Erza nodded at her friend. "Thank you, Mirajane." After a pause, she asked, "Do you have the time, by the way?"

"It's almost one in the morning. You should probably head back to Fairy Hills soon," Mirajane said. "Or you could crash here with everyone else; I was about to start distributing blankets, if you'd like to stay and help me out."

She nodded. "I would love to. Come along, boys," the scarlet haired mage said, as if they had a choice in the matter. Hauling them away by their scruffs, she deposited them in a heap upon the upholstery. Almost immediately, they glommed onto each other in their sleep. Erza nodded to herself again in satisfaction. It was good to see such close friends getting along, even whilst unconscious.

When Mirajane came by with the blankets, Erza made certain the fire and ice mages were tucked in securely.

Next, she made her way to Jellal. He was passed out at the bar, alongside of Cana, Gildarts, and Richard. The Requip mage vaguely recalled the bluenette being forced into a drinking contest alongside his guild member by the dynamic father-daughter duo. Jellal and Richard had, predictably, lost in a rather miserable display that had – thankfully – contained no vomiting this time.

As she placed blankets over all four of the mages, Erza's mind wandered to the first time Crime Sorciere had wandered into the newly reformed Fairy Tail guild several months before. It had been a shock, but it turned out that they were only there to celebrate alongside of their former enemies. Enmity had been cast aside, and the group had been welcomed as old friends rather than the foes they had actually been. Now they were Fairy Tail's most frequent visitors – clandestine though their presence was supposed to be.

She lingered over Jellal, taking extra care with tucking him in. Erza would always love Jellal – he was her childhood friend. But that was all, she was discovering. He was a dear friend to her, but the events of the past couple of years, what with Tartaros, the Avatar debacle, and the other challenges involved in turning Lucy's dream of a reunited Fairy Tail into a reality had changed Erza's outlook on life completely.

Time was short, in this world. Mage work was dangerous. And she couldn't keep waiting on a man that wasn't able to work up the courage to even look her in the eye, let alone confess any feelings towards her. It hurt, but Erza would have to let Jellal go. For both of their sakes – for as long as the man remained hung up on her, Erza was certain he would never truly heal the wounds inside of his soul.

Heart hurting despite her resolve, Erza left her old friend there at the counter, blissfully slumbering away. She then approached Cobra and Lucy. When she settled the cloth around them, Cobra cracked open his eye to stare at her.

"You _do_ deserve happiness, too, Titania," he quietly rumbled, careful with his intonation so Lucy would not stir.

Erza blinked in surprise. "Thank you, Cobra," she whispered in return. She'd been under the impression that the maroon haired man disliked her, to be honest.

He snorted at the thought. "You're fine… when you don't have a giant hammer in hand."

"…You're not going to let that go, are you."

 _"Never."_ With that, his eye slid shut, indicating the conversation was at an end.

Passing out all the blankets Mirajane had left her with, she soon found herself with only two remaining. As she glanced around, she spotted Mirajane finishing up with her stock of blankets as well.

Then she spotted someone in a shadowy, corner booth that she had managed to overlook before. With a small smile, Erza made her way to the narcoleptic Reflector mage. He opened his hazy crimson orbs as she walked up to him. Sleepily and with eyes half-lidded, he made no move as she held out the blanket to him.

With a soft chuckle, Erza laid the brown cloth over his shoulders, before moving around to the other side of the booth. She might as well lie down here, she decided. There was no point in going back to Fairy Hills this late at night.

A soft glow surrounded her as she requipped out of her armor into her favorite pair of Heart Kruez pajamas. She also summoned two pillows. Sitting down with the blanket held around her shoulders, she started as she realized that Midnight's eyes had not left her.

"Hey, Midnight," she greeted, a little embarrassed over her lack of manners. The Reflector mage, much like Cobra, preferred that the others used his codename over his true one, still. Though Erza suspected that choice had largely to do with the fact that Natsu, upon learning that his name was Macbeth, had immediately christened him 'Beth' and refused to call him by anything else (much to Cobra's obvious amusement).

He made a noncommittal, sleepy noise at her that might have been her name, but Erza couldn't be sure.

"You should go back to sleep," she said. "Do you mind if I join you, though?"

Midnight shook his head slightly, the braid he wore swaying with the motion. The beads that had once adorned it were missing, Erza noticed for the first time. Come to think of it, she hadn't recalled seeing them during the Infinity Clock incident, either.

She scolded herself for not having observed that sooner.

However, Erza had to cut short her musings as Midnight still had yet to close his eyes. So she raised an eyebrow at him. "Was there something else you needed?" she asked.

His eyes flicked over to the bar for an instant, and then back. "How are you doing?" he mumbled into his arms.

Erza flinched. Even Midnight could see that, huh? "I'm fine," she stated with finality.

The Reflector mage stared at her a moment longer before responding, with the barest hint of a shrug. "You'll be fine."

She looked taken aback by this. "Isn't that what I just said?"

"No." He did not clarify further, yawning widely instead.

After a minute of awkward silence, and staring blankly at each other, Erza finally relented. "How do you know?" she asked quietly, bowing her head a little.

Midnight considered the question. "Just do." Again, his gaze left her only briefly – this time it rested on Cobra and Lucy's slumbering forms. "Cobra, a bit. But… mostly I just know." He regarded her again with his hazy eyes.

They were like the sunset during summer, Erza thought. Sunset at the end of a very hot day, with few clouds in the sky.

She blamed her sudden need for poetry on the hour and her own weariness.

Holding out the second pillow to him, Erza asked, "Would you like this one?"

Tentatively, Midnight took it with a hardly coherent, "Thanks." Placing it upon the table, he rested his chin on it. He yawned again, wrapping his arms around the object and hugging it much like a small child would. After another moment, he suddenly stated, "You're strong."

"Excuse me?"

He shrugged, unconcerned that the movement had caused the blanket to slip down his shoulders a bit. "You defeated me. All those years ago, at Nirvana. You're strong."

She frowned slightly, though she was certain he meant the praise well. Still, she didn't always care for being thought of as merely, 'strong.' Because she wasn't. Not really. The Tower of Heaven had proven that to her, and so had Tenrou. Then Tartaros had taken its turn with her as a plaything. Erza was anything but strong.

Seeming to sense her discomfort, Midnight shook his head again at the scarlet haired woman. "Not physically. You're a very powerful warrior and mage," he acknowledged. "I meant when you overcame my illusions." Midnight blinked slowly at her, his vision unfocusing for a second. "No one had done that before, and no one since. You're the only one."

"That was because of my false eye," she demurred, thought she was pleased just the tiniest amount by his compliments.

Again, Midnight disagreed. "That's not it. I've faced other mages with similar issues. You overcame my illusions with help from your eye, yes, but you had to conquer your worst doubts and most terrible fears first. And when I was at the height of my magical abilities, too. It's a rare talent, you know, to be able push past those insecurities." He sighed through his nose. "I should know."

Red started creeping up Erza's neck to match her hair. "O-Oh."

The lights suddenly dimmed, as Mirajane wrapped up her duties for the night.

"Well, I guess that's our cue to go back to sleep," Erza commented, laying her pillow upon the bench. "Goodnight, Midnight."

"Night, Erza," he mumbled, clearly more than halfway to that particular destination himself.

Just as she laid down, she thought she heard him say, "You're really pretty, too, you know."

Heat flooded her face, but even that wasn't enough to prevent her eyelids from dropping closed. She liked the way he'd said it. 'Pretty.' Not beautiful, not gorgeous, not hot, not sexy. Somehow, this felt much more honest.

"Thanks, Midnight."

As she nodded off, she thought she heard him say, "You're welcome."

Midnight waited until her breath evened out, before he sat up straight and peered around the darkened guildhall. In truth, he wasn't tired at all. He just acted that way late at night to put others at ease. The midnight hour was when his magic flowed the strongest through his veins, filling him with energy that he did not possess during the normal course of the day. It was past the time when it was at its most powerful, yes, but not by enough to make much of a difference.

Standing up, Midnight allowed the blanket to pool on the bench he'd just vacated. Taking the pillow, however, he stepped carefully amongst the leftover debris and passed out mages in the hall. Thanks to many nocturnal ramblings, he had little difficulty navigating the labyrinth.

He stopped next to his comrade, reaching out and shaking the man's shoulder. "Erik," Midnight said, shaking the sleeping Dragon Slayer harder. "Erik. Wake up. I need your help."

"What the fuck do you want, Macbeth," Cobra growled into his arms without looking up.

"Tell me how to get a girl to like me."

"Fuck no."

"But you're the only one of us with a girlfriend."

"Irrelevant. This couldn't have waited until morning? What time is it anyway?"

The Reflector mage didn't need to look at a clock to know the hour. "It's about 1:30 AM. And no, it couldn't wait."

Cobra groaned. "Too early. And you're crazy to go after that giant-hammer-wielding psycho redhead. Go the fuck away."

Midnight contemplated the grumpy Poison Dragon Slayer, before holding out the pillow. "Trade you. Pillow for your help."

The object was snatched out of his grip almost immediately. Sitting up, Cobra gently positioned it under Lucy's head; the man taking great care to prevent her awakening despite the movement. Shortly thereafter, he turned in the dark to stare balefully at his friend.

"Alright. Start talking. But if Lucy wakes up, I'm tearing you apart on the spot."

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 **And that's all, folks.**

 **Let me know what you think of this strange pairing! It was so much fun to write!**


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